Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Buster Posey gave the San Francisco Giants their second lead of the night, and this time it held up.

Posey hit a two-run home run off of New York Mets reliever Carlos Torres in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the Giants came back to defeat the Mets 4-2 lead before a crowd of 41,437, the 275th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

With the victory, the Giants are the first team in the major leagues to reach the 40-win plateau, after not winning their 40th last season until July 6

It was the third hit of the night for Posey, and it was his first home run since May 3, against the Atlanta Braves, a span of 93 at-bats and first at home since April 29 against the San Diego Padres.

This was Posey’s first multi-hit game at home since April 30 against the Padres

Daniel Murphy’s two-run home run gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning off of Cain.

Matt den Dekker led off the inning with a double down the left field line, as he was the first Mets player to reach second base on the evening against Cain.

That would be the score for all of one-half inning, as Brandon Hicks walked with two outs, went to second on a Jonathan Niese wild pitch and then scored on a Brandon Crawford single to center field.

Cain went seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking no one and striking out three; however he did not fare in the decision.

Niese went seven innings, allowing just two runs, while scattering four hits, walked and struck out and like his counterpart, he did not fare in the decision.

Ruben Tejada broke up the no-hitter with an infield single leading off the top of the sixth inning, and was immediately retired on a double play from Hicks to Crawford to Michael Morse.

Cain did not allow a baserunner until rightfielder Curtis Granderson walked on a 3-1 pitch, as he led off the top of the fifth inning.

Following the Granderson walk, Cain was able to get leftfielder Andrew Brown to ground into a double play, as Hicks made a great play at second base.

Hicks scored the Giants first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he tripled off of Niese with one out and then scored on a Crawford sacrifice fly to left field.

The triple by Hicks in that bottom of the fifth inning was the first triple of his major league career.

On the sacrifice fly, Brown came up throwing and throw got away from catcher Travis d’Arnaud, as it gave the Giants a 1-0 lead.

After getting Crawford for the second out of the inning, Niese threw a ball into the ground and it was first called a ball; however Bruce Bochy challenged the call by home plate umpire Rob Drake.

Bochy won the challenge, as it was discovered that Cain was indeed hit on the right foot by the Niese offering and the time of the challenge was one minute and 12 seconds.

Prior to the game, to make room for Cain on the roster, the Giants designated left-handed reliever David Huff for assignment.

Sergio Romo came into the game in the top of the ninth inning, and picked up his 19th save in 21 opportunities.

Jeremy Affeldt pitched the eighth inning, allowing a hit and striking out a batter for his first win of the 2014 season and first ever on his birthday.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, June 5, 2014

The Oakland Athletics got their first look at rookie pitching sensation Masahiro Tanaka Thursday, and the 25-year-old righthander handcuffed them for a 2-1 win at Yankee Stadium.

Tanaka (9-1) gave up one run on five hits, struck out four and walked one over six innings, as the victory snapped a four-game skid for the Bronx Bombers while ending the A’s five-game winning streak.

Tanaka finished the game with an AL-leading 2.02 ERA while giving up only one run on a solo homer by John Jaha in the first inning.

Drew Pomerantz (5-3) took the loss. Pomerantz surrendered a leadoff home run to Brett Gardner in the third inning that put the Yankees ahead to stay.

David Robertson wiggled out of trouble in the ninth for his 13th save. Oakland’s Stephen Vogt hit a one-out single, and pinch-runner Craig Gentry stole second. Alberto Callaspo followed with a hard ground ball off Robertson’s leg. Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira plucked the carom and flipped to Robertson, covering first, for the second out.

Pinch-hitter Derek Norris struck out to end the game.

Earlier, in the top of the eighth, the Yanks brought in old nemesis Ichiro Suzuki to play right field for defensive purposes. With runners on first and second with one out, Suzuki made a sliding catch on a sinking liner by Brandon Moss. New York reliever Adam Warren struck out Yoenis Cespedes to snuff out the rally.

The Yanks’ Jacoby Ellsbury almost had a two-run homer in the first inning on a drive to the top of the right-field wall. After the umpires ruled it a home run, A’s manager Bob Melvin challenged the ruling and the hit was reversed to a double.

New York tied the game at 1-1 in the second when Alfonso Soriano snapped an 0-for-16 slump with an RBI single. Soriano drove in Brian McCann, who singled and moved to second on an error.

A’s ACORNS: Before Jaha’s blast, Tanaka had gone five starts without surrendering a home run. … Cespedes served as the A’s designated hitter Thursday. Melvin said he was working through some shoulder issues. … Prior to the game, seven veterans of the D-Day Invasion were honored at home plate, and a moment of silence was held for Don Zimmer, who died Wednesday at 83. Zimmer, who came to the majors as an infielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, was a long-time bench coach with the Yankees for Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre. … Oakland selected 3B Mike Chapman of Cal State-Fullerton and RHP Daniel Gossett of Clemson in the first two rounds, respectively, of the MLB First-Year Player Draft. Chapman was the 25th player taken overall, while Gossett was No. 65.

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants continued to play great baseball on the road, as they gained the upper hand on the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1, at the Great American Ball Park Thursday afternoon.

They leave town having won two of the three-game series and are arguably the best team in baseball at this moment. It was also the first time in five seasons that the Giants have won a series in Cincinnati, with the exception of the 2012 Division Series during which the Giants roared back from a 2-0 deficit to win the final three games there to move to the next round.

In the process, the Giants surpassed the A’s for the top spot in Yahoo! Sports’s power rankings, a place that they haven’t been in quite some time.

Madison Bumgarner paced the Giants on Thursday, retiring the last 16 batters he faced en route to going eight dominant innings while giving up only one run on three hits, walking none and striking out five.

Well, it was another game, and another tape measure shot by Michael Morse, who doesn’t look like he’s coming down to earth any time soon. In the second, righty Mike Leake left a fastball on the inside part of the plate, and the big man smashed it 440 feet into the upper deck in left field to tie the game at 1-1.

Brandon Crawford gave the Giants the lead for good with a three-run homer off Leake. Buster Posey added just a little insurance in the seventh with his RBI single into shallow left to score Angel Pagan.

The Giants have now won 11 of their past 14 games and moved to a season-high 18 games over .500, which also gives them the best record in the majors at 39-21.

In the process, they moved to 8 ½ games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, and they get to celebrate by coming home for a three-game series that starts Friday against the New York Mets, a team that is currently four games under .500 and have lost their last three games.

By Jeremy Kahn

One of the mainstays that helped the San Francisco Giants into first place in the National League West is their defense, but on this night, it failed them.

The Giants committed a season-high four errors, including two on throwing errors by catcher Hector Sanchez, as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Giants 8-3 at Great American Ballpark.

Returning to a place that he witnessed his opponent Homer Bailey throw a no-hitter on July 2, 2013, Tim Lhincecum last just four and one-thirds innings, allowing eight runs on six hits, walking three and striking out three, as he lost again in the regular season at Great American Ballpark, a stadium he is winless in during his career.

Bailey went six innings, in his first game against the Giants since that historical night and allowed three runs on five hits, with three of those hits coming off the bat of Hunter Pence, who hit a home run, double and single.

Pence gave the Giants a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as he took a Bailey offering and planted it into the left field seats for his eighth home run of the season.

That would be the lead for all of one-half inning, as Lincecum was unable to hold the lead, as Billy Hamilton stole third and then scored on a throwing error by Lincecum.

Jay Bruce doubled to right field to score Todd Frazier with the eventual winning run, and then Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run home run that put the game to put the Reds up by three runs after one inning.

Joaquin Arias hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead in half in the top of the second inning, and then Pablo Sandoval got the Giants within one with a sacrifice fly of his own in the top of the third.

Unfortunately that would be as close as the Giants would get, as Brandon Phillips hit a two-run double to score Hamilton and Frazier to give the Reds their second three-run lead of the night.

Bruce added another RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he singled in Phillips and then Brayan Pena put the finishing touches on the scoring ,as he hit into a Fielder’s Choice to score Bruce.

By Jeremy Kahn

Before Tim Hudson even reached the mound for the bottom of the first inning, his teammates gave him a hefty lead and they never looked back.

Joaquin Arias, playing first base after Michael Morse was scratched after hitting a ball off of his foot in batting practice, hit a two-run single and the San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 at Busch Stadium.

This was the Giants fifth win in their last six games and raising their record to a major league best 37-20, while the Cardinals continue to slump after losing four out of their last five.

Hudson allowed just three hits, striking out six and walking just two in seven innings of work, as he raised his record to 6-2 on the season and his earned run average now stands at a mind boggling 1.75, good for second best in the National League.

Buster Posey returned to the lineup after missing the lasty three games with stiffness in his back, and picked up three hits in his first game since Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park against the Chicago Cubs.

It was not a good day for Cardinals starter Lance Lynn at all, as he gave up seven runs on eight hits in just three and one-third innings of work.

The Giants got to Lynn in the first inning, as Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence and Posey singled consecutively to put the visitors on the board afer just three batters.

Gregor Blanco then reached on an error by Kolten Wong, Pence then scored on a groundout, Brandon Hicks then walked to load the bases and then Arias drove in two with a single.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the top of the third inning, as Arias singled for the second time in as many at-bats, Pagan made it 6-0 after a fielders’s choice to score Hicks.

Crawford made it 7-0 after a ground-rule double that scored Posey in the top of the fourth inning, and then Blanco closed out the scoring with a triple in the top of the sixth inning that scored Pablo Sandoval.

By Jeremy Kahn

Oscar Tavares did not waste any time to get himself anointed with the fans of the St. Louis Cardinals in his major league debut.

Tavares launched a Yusmeiro Petit pitch 418 feet into the seats in the bottom of the fifth inning, as the Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants 2-0 at Busch Stadium.

The loss put an end to the Giants four-game winning streak, as Michael Wacha pitched a great game, despite two different rain delays.

Wacha went six innings, allowing three hits in his fifth rain-delayed of the 2014 season.

This season alone, the Cardinals have amassed rain delays of six hours and 30 minutes, incluing two delays of 51 and 47 minutes respectively.

In his last start on Sunday afternoon, Wacha and the Cardinals were forced to sit thru a 61-minute rain delay against the New York Yankees.

Delays are obviously nothing new to Wacha, as he sat and watched the bullpen blow a lead and after 4.5 hours and finally the game ended at 3:14 A.M. against the Kansas City Royals.

Petit gave up jut two hits in six innings of work for the Giants in place of Matt Cain, who was placed on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.

Jhonny Peralta put the finishing touches on the scoring in the bottom of the seventh inning, as he doubled off of George Kontos and the Cardinals put an end their three-game losing streak.

Buster Posey missed his third straigh game tightness in his lower back.

By Jeremy Kahn

After learning earlier in the day that Matt Cain was placed on the disabled list for the second time this season, Madison Bumgarner went out and proved why he can be considered to be one of the aces of the staff.

Bumgarner struck out 10 for the second game in a row, as the Giants won their fourth straight game with a 9-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

In seven innings of work, Bumgarner did not allow a run, gave up just three hits and walked just one.

Over his last two games against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday and tonight against the Cardinals, Bumgarner is 2-0 with just one walk and 20 strikeouts.

The Giants have won eight out of their last nine, and are now 35-19 on the season, the best record in the major leagues and are seven games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies in the National League West.

Hunter Pence hit a huge three-run home run, and added another hit, while Pablo Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single and a double; however Sandoval’s streak of nine consecutive games with a RBI was stopped.

Both Gregor Blanco and Hector Sanchez each picked up two-run singles, as the Giants scored seven runs with two outs on the evening and on the season, the Giants have scored 117 runs with two outs, the most in the major leagues.

Giants leadoff batter Angel Pagan also got in on the act, as he picked up two hits and scored twice against the reigning National League Champions.

Adam Wainwright, who entered the game with a 20-inning scoreless streak and a major league leading 1.67 earned run average, lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs in eight hits and his earned run average raised to 2.32.

The Giants got Wainwright in the very first inning, as Pagan led off the game with a double, went to third on a Pence flyball and then scored on a two-out single by Michael Morse.

Things got ugly for the Cardinals and Wainwright in the top of the second inning, as the Giants exploded for four runs, as Pagan singled in Brandon Hicks and then Pence slammed a Wainwright pitch into BigMacLand, a 447-foot blast that gave the Giants 5-0 lead.

John Jay broke up the shutout in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he cleared the bases with a double off of David Huff and then Allen Craig added an RBI double off of Juan Gutierrez.